PA
pedro aurelio sotomayor soloaga
Universidad de Atacama
Copiapó, Chile
- Frontiers in Education
- Higher Education
- Research Topics
- Improving Student Persistence and Reducing Dropout in Higher Education: Multidimensional Perspectives and Innovative Approaches
Improving Student Persistence and Reducing Dropout in Higher Education: Multidimensional Perspectives and Innovative Approaches
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About this Research Topic
Manuscript Summary Submission Deadline 25 February 2026 | Manuscript Submission Deadline 15 June 2026
This Research Topic is currently accepting articles.
Background
Student dropout in higher education remains a persistent and complex challenge worldwide, yet it manifests unevenly across regions, institutions, and student groups. In some countries, dropout rates represent a critical systemic problem; in others, they are more contained and linked to specific programs or populations. For this Research Topic, higher-education student dropout is defined as the voluntary or involuntary interruption or termination of studies before degree completion, regardless of whether students formally withdraw. We particularly welcome studies that clarify how dropout is conceptualized within their national, institutional, or disciplinary context, helping illuminate the phenomenon’s diverse boundaries and meanings across higher-education systems.
Its causes span academic, psychosocial, economic, institutional, and territorial dimensions, while recent shifts toward hybrid and digital learning have introduced new forms of inequality, disengagement, and fragmentation in student trajectories. These transformations demand updated analytical and theoretical frameworks capable of capturing the nonlinear, context-dependent, and multidimensional nature of persistence and dropout.
As higher education systems face increasing student diversity, intensified digital demands, and evolving expectations for quality and inclusion, understanding the drivers of dropout - and the mechanisms that promote student success - has never been more urgent. Traditional approaches often overlook the interaction between individual experiences and institutional environments, calling for interdisciplinary perspectives, innovative methodologies, and evidence that can inform both institutional strategies and educational policy.
The goal of this Research Topic is to advance and integrate cutting-edge knowledge on student dropout, satisfaction, and persistence in higher education. We aim to bring together contributions that illuminate the complex mechanisms shaping student trajectories, identifying individual, social, institutional, and technological factors that influence engagement, well-being, belonging, and academic success. By consolidating empirical evidence, theoretical developments, and methodological advances, this collection seeks to strengthen the field’s capacity to design effective interventions, guide institutional decision-making, and support more equitable and sustainable higher-education systems aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4): Quality Education.
We welcome empirical, theoretical, methodological, and review-based contributions addressing dropout and persistence across diverse student populations and educational contexts. Submissions may explore: psychological and social factors; equity and inclusion challenges; institutional and governance dynamics; technological influences; advanced methodological approaches; and comparative or cross-national analyses. Accepted article types include Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Scoping Reviews, Conceptual Analyses, Methods Papers, Case Studies, Policy Briefs, and Perspectives.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
- Brief Research Report
- Case Report
- Community Case Study
- Conceptual Analysis
- Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
- Data Report
- Editorial
- FAIR² Data
- General Commentary
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Keywords: Student dropout, Student retention, Student persistence, Higher education, Student satisfaction, Wellbeing and engagement, Equity and diversity, Digital inequalities, Hybrid and online learning
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
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